Sports betting bills that were introduced earlier this week in Massachusetts aim to make substantial changes to the sports betting operations in the state.
The bills were introduced by Senators Jacob Oliveira (SD 2428) and John Keenan (SD 1657) and would implement several responsible gaming measures that may be too radical for the industry to bear.
The bills borrow many aspects from the SAFE Bet Act, a federal bill that was introduced in the US congress late last year. Some of the changes the bills introduced in Massachusetts are proposing include:
- Increasing the tax rate from 20 percent to 51 percent
- Prohibitions on in-play live betting, and props bets
- Implementing wagering limits of $1,000 per day, and $10,000 per month
- Prohibiting sports betting ads during sports programming
- Make bonuses and single-game parlays unfair practices.
Senator Keenan tried to raise the sports betting tax to 51 percent last year but it did nto receive support.
The SAFE Bet Act was introduced last year by Representative Paul Tomko, and Senator Richard Blumenthal. Under the act prop bets on college sports would be banned and restrictions would be placed on sports betting advertisements and wagering limits.
